http://crosstrainingenduro.com The best lightweight adventure bike between 120 to 175kg?
0:46 Best lightweight adv bikes in the past
1:46 Adventurizing a big bore enduro bike?
2:10 CCM GP450 (now discontinued)
2:29 Honda CRF450L
2:52 Dual sport 250s from Japan
3:36 Suzuki DRZ400
3:59 KTM 690 Husqvarna 701
4:16 Honda XR650L
4:33 AJP PR7 from Portugal
4:55 KTM 390 Adventure
5:18 Suzuki DR650
5:37 Kawasaki KLR650
5:59 SWM Superdual 650
6:20 Kawasaki Versys 300 and BMW G310GS
Four years ago I discussed the myth of the light weight adventure motorbike. Is it possible to choose the best lightweight bike that is light enough to handle some basic dirt riding, but also handle long adventure rides. We are especially interested in the Suzuki DR650, SWM Dual Sport, AJP P57, CCM 450, CRF450L, BMW G310GS, DRZ400, KTM 690 and KTM 390 Adventure. Our main criteria? Between 120kg and 175kg (dry weight), decent sized fuel tank, decent oil capacity, preferably a 21" front wheel, good balance between performance and reliability, and still available in 2020 as a new bike. The problem? There used to be a lot of bikes that came close to this. The Husqvarna TE610. The KTM 640. The Honda Dominator NX650. And my personal favourites? The Honda XR650R. Honda executives should be shot for not updating this mighty beast. Imagine this with electric start and fuel injection to meet emission standards. And of course the incredible Husaberg FE570. KTM executives should be shot for not continuing this design in an adventure style. Sigh. But nowadays most so called lightweight adventure bikes are like humans, and getting fatter and heavier all the time. I am about to buy light weight adventure motorbike I will announce my choice at the end. Here are the candidates. Plenty of guys adventurize big bore dirt bikes. I have been down that road with several bikes. It's always the same issues. Small fuel tank, small oil capacity, horrible seat, higher maintenance engine, no cush drive hub. It gets expensive trying to fix those issues, personally I think there are too many compromises involved. If I did go down that road again, it would probably be the rock solid Yamaha WR450F. The next heaviest is the CCM GP450 at only 125kg dry weight. \Many felt this was going to be the perfect light weight adventure bike with it's big fuel tank and oil capacity. A real shame. Next is this relatively new model from Honda, the CRF450L. It's a detuned version of the racing model but it still has the same issues. Getting heavier... the Japanese dual sport 250 as a lightweight adventure bike? We have Honda's CRF250L, Yamaha XT250, Kawasaki KLX250 and Yamaha WR250R. For many years these have been very popular in the USA as cheap light weight adventure bikes. Personally I am not sure why. The Suzuki DRZ400 is around the same weight, in most cases around the same price and has much more power of course. But it is very interesting to see Honda adapted the CRF250L into a Rally model. We need more than just the DR650, SWM Dual Sport, AJP P57, and BMW G310GS. Next it's the good old Suzuki DRZ400. A bit heavier and a crazy amount of horsepower, the KTM 690. Talking about cheap old style bikes, next is Honda's XR650L. Many guys have adapted these for adventure riding, and we compared it recently to the KLR650 and DR650. It's just a pity Honda didn't slap on an oil cooler and cush drive hub to provide more competition for the SWM Dual Sport, AJP P57, KTM 690 and Kawasaki Versys 300. Back to KTM, it's the KTM 390 Adventure. Great fuel and oil capacities, zippy engine. Plus it's made in India so time will tell if it doesn't hold up as well as the Austrian built KTMs. Next is the very cool looking AJP PR7, clocking in at about 155kg. Another golden oldie from Suzuki, the venerable DR650. Largely unchanged since 1996, this cheap reliable air cooled workhorse is still popular as few cheap mods can fix the known issues and transform its handling and power characteristics. The SWM Superdual. We mentioned the excellent TE610 earlier, it has slowly morphed into this much heavier beast. And now we are getting toward the heavy end of our chosen limit with the Kawasaki KLR650. And to wrap up, we have the Kawasaki Versys 300 and the BMW G310GS.
Hopefully that gives you a quick overview of what is possible in the light weight adventure bike category. What did I choose? I have just bought another Suzuki DR650 instead of the SWM Dual Sport, AJP P57 or KTM 390 Adventure.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Picking the best bike
00:46 Previous contenders
01:41 Modified enduro bikes
02:10 CCM GP450
02:29 CRF450L
02:52 Dual sport 250s
03:36 DRZ400
04:00 KTM 690
04:16 XR650L
04:55 KTM 390
05:17 AJP PR7
05:37 KLR650
06:00 SWM Superdual
06:20 Versys 300 & G310GS

Music: Marko Furstenberg
#lightweightadventurebikes #lightadventuremotorbike